Rešoketšwe Manenzhe joins Mirari with literary marvel
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Mirari Press has acquired Rešoketšwe Manenzhe's The Kind Old Sun Will Know for publication in 2027.
From the award-winning author of Scatterlings comes a work of literary speculative fiction set in 1950s South Africa. Told through the voice of a young girl navigating the surreal terrain of grief, memory, and myth, The Kind Old Sun Will Know blends coming-of-age storytelling with metaphysical mystery in the tradition of Tsitsi Dangaremba, Toni Morrison, David Mitchell and N.K. Jemisin.
When her sister Zuleika vanishes without explanation, eleven-year-old Jhoni Naya Keet begins to lose time. Her dreams become transmissions into time and history, her memories rearrange themselves, and a strange radio – dismissed by the village as a broken toy – begins to hum with voices from another realm. With the help of her friends, a shaman who may also be a train conductor, and a graphic novel that might be a sacred text, Jhoni must tune into the right frequency to bring her sister home. But the deeper she travels into the spirit world, the more she begins to question: is she remembering the past, or rewriting it?
The Kind Old Sun Will Know is a novel about childhood and loss, but also about the stories we tell to survive. It explores the metaphysics of memory, the alchemy of language, and the quiet revolutions that happen when a girl dares to believe in the impossible.
"The Kind Old Sun Will Know is a jewel – a story you will want to look at over and over, from every facet possible, to explore its many depths. It is a work of singular beauty and pathos," says Marius du Plessis, CEO and Publisher. "Rešoketšwe has already established herself as one of the leading voices in African literature with her novel Scatterlings. It's a privilege to work with her and bring Jhoni and her world to readers. The Kind Old Sun Will Know is a vanguard of what the new voice of South Africa can be. As her publisher, I am thrilled. As a reader, I am thoroughly obsessed."
About Rešoketšwe Manenzhe
Rešoketšwe is a South African villager & storyteller. Her debut novel, Scatterlings, won the 2020 Dinaane Debut Fiction Award, the 2021 HSS Award for Best Fiction, the 2021 UJ Prize for South African Fiction in English, the First-Time Author award at the 2021 South African Literary Awards, was shortlisted for the 2021 Sunday Times Literary Awards, and went on to be included in the list of best books released in 2022 by The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times, and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. The book has since been translated into seven languages.
Her short stories and poems have appeared in The Kalahari Review, Fireside Fiction, Lolwe, FIYAH, and the 2017 Sol Plaatjie European Union Anthology, among others. She has won the 2019 Writivism Short Story Prize, the 2021 Akuko Short Story Competition, and she was the first runner-up for the 2019 Collins Elesiro Prize for Fiction.
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